Smith, P.R., Marangon, D. G., Lucamarini, Marco orcid.org/0000-0002-7351-4622 et al. (2 more authors) (2021) Out-of-Band Electromagnetic Injection Attack on a Quantum Random Number Generator. Physical Review Applied. 044044. ISSN 2331-7019
Abstract
Random number generators underpin the security of current and future cryptographic systems and are therefore a likely target for attackers. Quantum random number generators have been hailed as the ultimate sources of randomness. However, as shown in this work, the susceptibility of the sensitive electronics required to implement such devices poses a serious threat to their security. We present an out-of-band electromagnetic injection attack on a photonic quantum random number generator through which an adversary can gain full control of the output. In our first experiment, the adversary forces the binary output of the generator to become an alternating string of 1s and 0s, with near 100% success. This attack may be spotted by a vigilant user performing statistical tests on their output strings. We therefore envisage a second more subtle attack in which the adversary forces the output to be a random pattern known to them, thus rendering any protection based on statistical tests ineffective.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 04 May 2021 11:50 |
Last Modified: | 17 Oct 2024 08:48 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.15.044044 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1103/PhysRevApplied.15.044044 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:173694 |